FIJ
More details have emerged about the death of Ahmed Ibrahim, a 20-year-old Kebbi resident who was shot in the chest by Nura Ahmed, an inspector assigned to Base 18, Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Nigeria Police Force (NPF), in Zamfara State
MallamJabir Ibrahim, a relative of the deceased, told FIJ that his brother was returning from Wawa, Niger State, alongside two other people on June 13, when Ahmed stopped their vehicle for a search.
He stated that the inspector had requested custom duties from the driver, which was different from his job as a police officer, and when he kept delaying the trio from continuing their trip, the late Ibrahim begged the officer to allow them to resume their journey.
He said this statement triggered Ahmed and he assaulted Ibrahim before shooting him in the chest.
“Around 11:50 pm on June 13, my brother was returning from a village called Wawa in Niger State with two other people. But when they got to Zamare, a village in the Yauri Local Government Area of Kebbi, they met a police officer on duty,” MallamJabir told FIJ.
“This police officer, who turned out to be Inspector Nura Ahmed, asked the driver of the vehicle to present his customs duties. This was outside his duty as a police officer, but the driver obeyed him and showed him the documents.
“After reviewing the documents, the police officer still wouldn’t allow them to continue their trip, and it was already late.”
MallamJabir said his late brother was simply in the car listening to the conversation between the officer and the driver. However, after realising that Ahmed was prolonging their delay without cause, he intervened and pleaded with the officer to release them.
“While the driver conversed with Ahmed, my brother was only in the car listening to them talk. But when it was beginning to stretch, my brother came out of the vehicle and said, ‘Officer, please allow us to go. We have been on the road since 2 pm. There are cows in the car, and they’ve been there since noon. We are all tired. Can you please let us go?’
“These were the exact words of my brother to the officer. When the officer heard this, he dropped the gun and the car papers he was holding. He also brought out his phone, shone the light into my brother’s face and said, ‘Look at my face; I was a traditional boxer before I joined the police force. You don’t teach me my job. You also can’t tell me what to do or how to do it. I am a very rugged person’.
“To all of this, the other people who were at the scene said my brother didn’t say anything. When the police officer wasn’t satisfied, he started to slap my brother, but he was dodging it. Afterwards, Ahmed took his gun and attempted to beat my brother with it, but Ibrahim jumped out of the way.
“He tried a few more times, and when he couldn’t get him, he tried to beat my brother on the head with his gun, but it fell. The officer then asked him to release the gun because my brother was holding it. But my brother said, ‘How can I release it when you are going to injure me with it?’
“In the process, I think the officer, who was under the influence of drugs, pulled the trigger and shot Ibrahim.”
The deceased’s relative said that immediately after shooting his brother, Inspector Ahmed told the other people who were at the scene to call Ibrahim’s relatives and tell them he shot himself.
He stated that the officer also attempted to flee the scene of the incident but the other people threatened to kill him if he dared.
“They made him enter the vehicle with them and took my brother to the General Hospital in Yauri, where he was confirmed dead,” MallamJabir said.
“I have now lodged a complaint at the divisional police station, and the case has been taken to the Kebbi State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), but they said they would send the files to the Ministry of Justice. The officer is also currently in detention.
“What’s more annoying is that when I went to SCID, they brought Officer Ahmed out for questioning. He claimed my brother snatched the gun from him and killed himself, despite all the evidence.
“Also, he was said to have been on illegal duty that night because he was the only officer there. The police would usually deploy more than two officers for duty on that road, but he was the only one there.
“The residents of the community also told us that it was in his habit to threaten to kill anyone he disagreed with.”
Describing his brother, Jabir said the late Ibrahim was a hardworking young man who, despite losing both parents early on in life, managed a pool of resources efficiently.
FIJ contacted SP Nafiu Abubakar, the spokesperson of the Kebbi State Police Command, for updates on the case but he said that the investigation into the case was still ongoing and would be made available as soon as possible.
“Investigation into the case is still ongoing, and its outcome will be made available,” Abubakar said.
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN FIJ
